“An awesome responsibility”: A conversation with CIRM board member Kim Barrett

Written by Holly Alyssa MacCormick It’s not every day that you get to contribute to something that could help save a life, but when Kim Barrett joined the board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), that’s exactly what happened. Barrett is a research physiologist. For 36 years she studied the cells of the … Continue reading “An awesome responsibility”: A conversation with CIRM board member Kim Barrett

CIRM COMPASS scholar Maya Singh shares how the program helped paved the way for her career as a physician

Written by Holly Alyssa MacCormick Image Credit: Maya Singh Many paths can lead to a career as a physician. For undergraduate Maya Singh, the road to becoming a doctor begins at a laboratory bench in the University of California, Berkeley. “I believe that being a part of research is a huge step toward being a … Continue reading CIRM COMPASS scholar Maya Singh shares how the program helped paved the way for her career as a physician

Winner of Beast Games becomes champion for his son’s rare disease

Written by Holly Alyssa MacCormick You can do a lot with $10 million. Yet, when Jeffrey Randall Allen won the largest prize in game show history on Amazon Prime Video’s Beast Games there was only one thing he wanted to spend his $10 million on—research that might help find a cure for his son’s rare … Continue reading Winner of Beast Games becomes champion for his son’s rare disease

20 Years of CIRM: Building the Workforce

In celebration of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)’s 20th anniversary, we have been reflecting on some of the early projects we supported and their outcomes.Today, we’re looking at our first set of grants, which we awarded in 2006 to support training programs for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Not long after, CIRM began … Continue reading 20 Years of CIRM: Building the Workforce

Neurona Doses First Patient in CIRM-Funded Bilateral Epilepsy Cell Therapy Trial

Image Credit: Canva Stock Photo Neurona Therapeutics has reached a major milestone in the development of its stem cell approach to treating epilepsy. The company recently announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating NRTX-1001, a cell therapy for adults whose epilepsy affects both sides of the brain … Continue reading Neurona Doses First Patient in CIRM-Funded Bilateral Epilepsy Cell Therapy Trial

Gene Therapy for Heart Failure: A Conversation with Eric Adler, MD

Image Credit: The Adler Lab at the University of California, San Diego In the fall of 2024, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) helped sponsor the Gene Therapy Initiative symposium in La Jolla, CA. While there, CIRM staff caught up with a few CIRM grantees who are working on gene therapy approaches to treating … Continue reading Gene Therapy for Heart Failure: A Conversation with Eric Adler, MD

Gene therapies for Friedreich’s Ataxia: A conversation with Liz Soragni, PhD

Liz Soragni, PhD, Director of Research at the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance In the fall of 2024, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) helped sponsor the Gene Therapy Initiative symposium in La Jolla, CA. While there, CIRM staff caught up with a few CIRM grantees who are working on gene therapy approaches to treating … Continue reading Gene therapies for Friedreich’s Ataxia: A conversation with Liz Soragni, PhD

20 years of CIRM: After spurring new research, CIRM’s iPSC repository closes 

In celebration of CIRM’s 20th anniversary, we have been reflecting on some of the early projects we supported and their outcomes. This blog is a little different, because it also marks the end of a project. In 2013 CIRM announced a $32 million project to create a repository of stem cell lines from people with … Continue reading 20 years of CIRM: After spurring new research, CIRM’s iPSC repository closes 

Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis Shows Positive Results in Early Trial

Image Credit: Shutterstock Here’s a shocking statistic: in 2020, 7.6% of the world’s population was living with the most common form of arthritis – osteoarthritis (OA). That amounts to 595 million people globally and 32.5 million adults in the U.S. That’s a lot of people with painful knees, hips, and other joints. Although pain medication … Continue reading Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis Shows Positive Results in Early Trial

20 Years of CIRM: The evolution of a CIRM-funded therapy for macular degeneration

Image Credit: University of Southern California (USC) Eye Institute In celebration of CIRM’s 20th anniversary, we are reflecting on some of the early projects we supported that have since advanced to clinical trials.  One such trial for a form of blindness originated with a 2007 SEED grant to David Hinton, MD, of the University of … Continue reading 20 Years of CIRM: The evolution of a CIRM-funded therapy for macular degeneration